Blacon Adventure Playground and City Farm (The Venny)

Cost: Free entry
Ages: 5 to 16
Where: Chester, Cheshire
Weather: Mostly outdoors
Booking: Just turn up (groups contact first)

Locals call it The Venny. Blacon Adventure Playground has been going for more than 50 years, owned and run by Avenue Services, a Blacon social enterprise, and it's free. The wooden play structures are built for 8 to 16 year olds: a zip wire, a fort with platforms to leap off, a climbing structure, a metal scramble net, an 8ft metal slide and a wobbly bridge. Proper adventure playground stuff, the kind most towns quietly lost decades ago.

The city farm is the draw for younger ones: donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens and ducks, and children using the playground are invited to help with the animals' daily care. The farm is open 12pm to 5pm, while the playground runs 10am to 6pm every day, school holidays included. There's also a woodland area for building dens and making trails, and a children's garden. Bank holiday hours can vary, so ring first.

There is no food or drink on site, so take a picnic. There are toilets, hand washing, first aid and baby change. It gets muddy and nearly all of it is outdoors, so wellies and a waterproof, even in August. Groups should contact the manager before visiting, as there may be a small charge, but a family can simply turn up.

What it costs: Free entry. Organised group visits may be charged a modest fee; groups should contact the manager first.

Know before you go

The farm is only open 12pm to 5pm, so time it for after lunch if the animals are the point.
There's no food or drink on site. Bring a picnic, wellies and a waterproof.

Worth knowing: The play structures are built for ages 8 to 16; the farm suits younger children.

Looking for more farms & animals near Chester?

Your postcode

What visitors say

★★★★★ 4.4 across 230 Google reviews.

Read all 230 reviews on Google - filter by star rating there

Also in Chester

Chester Zoo

Chester~45 min

4.6(48,294)

Excellent, but it is a lot of walking. Reviews rate 5 to 10 as the ideal age and still recommend a pushchair at four. Climbing frames, water play and sand pits break up the distance.

Day ticketAges 4-11

The Ice Cream Farm

Chester~35 min

4.4(9,956)

A small entry fee, then £4.50 a go for most attractions: sand and water play, mini golf, bouncy pillows, a racing track and soft play, all funded by what the farm calls the world's biggest ice cream shop. Cheap to get in, easy to spend in.

Entry from £1.50, then £4.50 a playIndoorsAges 4-8

The Crocky Trail

Chester~30 min

4.6(3,568)

More than a kilometre of muddy obstacles, rope swings, wobbly bridges and big slides through a Cheshire valley. Children come off it filthy, soaked and asking to go round again. This is the point; dress accordingly.

Ages 5 to 18 £18.90, adults £14.50Ages 5-11

Beeston Castle

Chester~30 min

4.5(2,999)

A ruined castle on a crag with views from the Pennines to the Welsh mountains, a reconstructed Bronze Age roundhouse and woodland paths below the walls. Castles do not need roofs to work for this age group.

English Heritage - members freeAges 4-11

Grosvenor Museum

Chester~30 min

4.4(1,159)

Chester's Roman story done properly: real tombstones from the fortress walls, a hands-on natural history gallery, and a walk-through period house at the back. Free, central, and the right size.

Free entryIndoorsAges 5-11

Grosvenor Park & Miniature Railway

Chester~30 min

4.7(2,694)

Chester's Victorian park above the river, with a miniature railway looping the lawns, a good playground and open-air theatre in summer. Pair with a boat trip from the Groves below.

Park free; train rides chargedAges 4-8

What’s on near you, every Friday

One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.